1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a roller pan for use with a paint roller. More particularly, the invention relates to a stackable paint roller pan having an integral paint reservoir, a paint roller parking device, and an adjustable one-hand carrying handle. It also is equipped with a side wall slot to hold a roller with an extended handle in a vertical rest position.
All these advantages are accomplished with the most important consideration being to make the product available to the customer at a practical, minimum cost.
2. State of the Art
The ubiquitous paint roller tray in use today is a simple aluminum pan which measures approximately ten inches wide and approximately twelve to fourteen inches long. The bottom of the tray is inclined to define a distal paint containing well and a proximal ribbed "rollout" surface. The proximal end of the tray is usually provided with a pair of C-shaped legs which balance the tray when it is placed on a level surface and which allow the tray to be attached to a step ladder. This type of tray is simple and inexpensive, but has several well known disadvantages. The tray does not hold much paint and needs to be refilled frequently. If the tray is over-filled, the paint will cover the "rollout" area rendering it useless and resulting in excessive paint being applied to the roller. When filled with paint, the tray is unbalanced and must be carefully carried, usually with two hands, to avoid spilling. In order to hold sufficient paint, these trays are often longer than the overall length of a paint roller handle. Thus, if the paint roller is not carefully positioned in the tray, it will likely roll down the rollout area allowing the handle to dip into paint.
Some attempts have been made to overcome these several disadvantages of the simple paint roller tray. Exemplary of these improvements, is the "painter's caddy" described in U.S. Pat. No. 3,837,034 to Leffert et al. Leffert et al. describes a deep rectangular paint pail having a steep roller ramp and a pair of folding carrying handles. The upper edge of the roller ramp is provided with a notch for receiving the handle of a paint roller. The paint pail is also provided with a clip for holding brushes and a storage compartment for holding other supplies. While the painter's caddy demonstrates some interesting concepts, it does not overcome all of the disadvantages of the simple roller tray and has some new disadvantages of its own. The simple notch in the upper edge of the roller ramp is insufficient to prevent the roller from rolling down into the paint well when the handle is disturbed. The steep angle of the roller ramp increases the overall dimensions of the caddy without increasing paint capacity. Also, the steep angle of the roller ramp creates a difficult angle of attack when pressing against it to remove paint from the roller. The tendency is for the paint pail to move backward. The design proposed forecloses the possibility of stacking the paint caddies. The use of two carrying handles makes it more difficult to lift and lifting one of the handles will likely disturb the paint roller and cause it to roll down the ramp into the paint well. Furthermore, the pail lacks stackability.